Beware False Prophets

Hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions this morning We're gonna find out about what the Lord has to say about some lying Prophets, so we'll find out what he says and if how's he know that they're lying. Let's have some coffee We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word So hot no, it's not very hot it's kind of getting cold. Oh You don't drink all my coffee man I don't know what I'm gonna do with this kid. All right, let's pray.
God, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the blessing it is to get to spend time together and to read your word. Father, we pray that we would be able to read it and understand it, that we would love you and walk in your ways. In Jesus's name, amen. All right, here we go. Jeremiah chapter 23, beginning at verse nine. We're gonna read the whole rest of the chapter, okay? We're just going to read it all and then we'll talk. All right. So here we go. My heart within me is broken because of the prophets. All my bones shake.
Good. and like a drunken man and like a man who wine has overcome because of the Lord and because of the holy water. and for the land is full of adulterers for because of a curse the land mourns the pleasant places of a wilderness are dried up their course of life is evil and their might is not right oh boy jeremiah's looking around and does it look pretty good For both prophet and priest are profane.
Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness, says the Lord. Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery ways. In the darkness they shall be driven on and fall in them. For I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment, says the Lord." Verse 13. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied by bail and caused my people Israel to err. Also, I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem. They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to me, and their inhabitants like Gomorrah." So up in the north in Samaria, they're prophesying by Baal, but down in the south in Jerusalem, are the prophets good there? No. No. No one calls them adulterers.
You want to read verse 15? Therefore, that says there were odd host concerning that. Offits behold I will eat them with warm Warm wood warm wood. Yeah, and make them drink the water of Gal Gal Gal from the For from the prophets it's of Jerusalem profaneness He has going out into the air all the way. Alright, yeah, so are they just going to get away with it? Are the prophets going to get away with it? No, he's going to punish them. Well, thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless.
They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord, They continually say to those who despise me, the Lord has said, you shall have peace. And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, no evil shall come upon you.
For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard his word? And who has marked his word and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury, a violent whirlwind. It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and performed the thoughts of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
Am I a god near at hand, says the Lord, and not a god afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places? So I shall not see him, says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord. Man, he's got some good thoughts about these prophets, don't he? Yeah, so good. So good. Did he send them? Did they draw near to him? Nope. They're saying peace, peace, but is it supposed to be peace? Nope. Alright, well here we go, verse 25.
I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make my people forget my name by their dreams, which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. You want to read verse 28? Prophets who has dreamed, let him tell a dream. Let him tell a dream. Go ahead and put your finger. And he who hath asked my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat? Is not my word like a fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? God's word is not something light and easy, is it? It's like a fire and a hammer. He says, it's not something light. Hold on here.
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, says Jehovah. who use their tongues and say, He says, Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams, says the Lord, and tell them and cause my people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them, therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the Lord. Do you want to read verse 33? Put your finger there, go ahead.
So when these people, or the prophets, or the priests, ask you, saying, what is the oracle of the Lord, you shall then say to them, what oracle I will even forsake you as the Lord. And as for the prophet and the priests and the people who say, the oracle of the Lord, I will even punish that man and his house. Thus, every one of you shall say to his neighbor and every one to his brother, what has the Lord answered and what has the Lord spoken?
And the oracle of the Lord. So in the oracle of the Lord, you shall mention no more. For every man's word will be his oracle. For you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. Thus you shall say to the prophet, what has the Lord answered you? And what has the Lord spoken? But since you say, the oracle of the Lord, Therefore, thus says Jehovah, Behold, you say this word, the oracle of the Lord, and I have sent you, saying, Do not say the oracle of the Lord.
Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you and forsake you. And the city that I gave you and your fathers will cast you out of my presence. And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten." What do you think this is about?
Evil prophets. Evil prophets. Yeah, I think that's a good summary of this. It's evil prophets. What do you think God is saying about those evil prophets? Okay, they're blaspheming, telling lies, right? They're saying that they have the word of the Lord, but they don't have the word of the Lord. And so are they going to get off scot-free? No, at the very end there, he said he's going to forget them, forsake them, destroy the city because of them. Utter reproach forever.
Yeah. What verse do you think you would underline as the best verse to summarize this? Is there a verse as you look through this that you think, oh that verse, that was a really good one? I think verse 15 maybe. Verse 15? Okay, about their punishment? Wait, where's the one where he has the fire and he's breaking rock in pieces? Oh, verse 29. Look, I have three stars next to that in my Bible. I also have verse 36 underlined.
And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more, for every man's word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. Well, what do you think? Foresee calling. Well, how does this call you to live? How does it point you to Jesus Christ? Love the Lord. Love the Lord?
Yeah, do you think if somebody comes, even I remember in the letter that Paul wrote to the Galatians, he said, if somebody else delivers another gospel to you, even an angel, let them be accursed. Let them be anathema. What do we do when we hear somebody say, Oh, it's going to go well with you. Things are going to be great. Or you hear anything that kind of your somebody says, well, God said, how do we know that they're telling the truth?
Go to the Bible. Yeah, I think we're able to go to the scriptures, right? Yeah, we're able to go to the scriptures. I think this is really important, especially even as we think about like someday, bud, you're going to be, you're going to not be in my house anymore, right? Someday you're going to grow up not too far down the road from now and you're going to grow up and you're going to get your own house and you're going to, maybe you'll live here, maybe you'll live somewhere else and you'll have to decide what church do I go to?
How will you know if they're telling you the truth? Because I can go to the Bible. Yeah, you can go to God's Word and say, does this sound like something the Lord would say? Hold on here. And so you can go to the Bible. And you can see, did God really send these people? Are they telling me the truth? Are they telling me God's Word? Yeah. Can I pray for us? Yeah. Okay.
Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you sanctify us in the truth and your word is truth. We thank you most of all that you have sent us the chief, ultimate, final prophet, Jesus Christ himself. who has shown us the way of salvation. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to walk in your ways and trust you. Thank you for your word.
Please keep our mouths from uttering the thoughts of our own hearts and our own foolish dreams. And let us instead always, Lord, let us speak what is truth. Only what you say in Jesus' name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And we'll see you next time. Bye.